If you're anything like me then you probably wish you knew how to make income off the internet so you could quit your day job. Hang on - I've already done it, and I'm here to give you the right approach so you can do it too.
Gone are the days of having to own bricks-and-mortar business; today you can make money thousands of ways online from affiliate marketing, surveys, reviews, etc. I'm going to teach you how to make income off the internet using affiliate marketing. It's the most dependable, most reasonable and definitely how to make income off the internet in the 21st century.
First, you want to create an account at Clickbank.com. They are a marketplace for products which you can sell and take a commission from, often above 50%. Most products are above $50 so expect to take over $30/sale. I think you can see the potential here. With more than a billion people online today, it wouldn't be hard to generate 5, 10 or 20 sales a day! Your first priority should be to learn how to make income off the internet.
Second, you need a website, blog, lens or something else similar. This is where you are going to promote a product. You can either buy a website, or use a free one. Squidoo.com is great for this sort of thing.
Third, before you jump right in and start reading, you have to learn the specifics of how to make income off the internet. There are a number of places you can do this - some of them you'll have to pay for and some of them you won't. I must warn you though, there is a lot out there which you can pay for but which has absolutely no value to you in teaching you how to make income off the internet.
Fourth, write your review, make a video, design a slideshow, anything to show how the product you've chosen at Clickbank can help them. Upload it to the site and double check everything.
Fifth and lastly, you need traffic. This can come from PPC (pay per click advertising), forums, blog comments, telling your friends, emails, and many other ways. The more you promote your site, the more traffic you'll receive and the more sales. The more sites you make the quicker you will learn how to make income off the internet.
Now this isn't exactly easy, though it might look it. It'll take hard work, persistence and a lot of motivation to succeed. Try picking a niche or product that you enjoy working with and writing about and it will make your job that much easier as you learn how to make income off the internet.
Sure you can try to do it all on your own, but wouldn't you rather have someone to help you on your way? If you want success enough then don't leave it to chance check out http://www.profitlance.com/new/?hop=bzmax
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Just Sell What Lots Of People Buy
Here are some practical step by step, word by word from the title above.
Let us start with the last word in the phrase.
1. BUY
You want one kind of visitor in this business - a buyer.
As nice as it might be to have a "high-traffic site" with some crazy traffic graphs in Google Analytics - at the end of the day, who really cares unless they made you money?
I do not know about you, but I am not in this business for the charity. I donate my own money as appropriate - but my websites sure better be profitable!
And so I target buyers.
People with credit card in hand, looking for the order form - NOT just "information".
In terms of building affiliate sites, this means that I focus on product-related keywords and keyphrases. People searching for products do so to research and "make sure" about a purchase decision, in most cases. And some are literally searching for the order form.
A small percentage do so for other "non-buying" reasons, but the majority are either on the verge of buying and in need of a little "push" - or they're simply looking for the place to insert their credit card number because of previous research.
Why it is not rocket science:
Just build a site that includes info-pages and/or reviews for the popular products in your target niche and make it VERY EASY for the visitor to get to the vendor's site...
...through your affiliate link, of course!
How hard is that?
2. LOTS OF PEOPLE
For the longest time, I truly believed that the only "chance" I had to make a good online income is if I could dominate some sort of un-tapped niche.
Finding a "gold mine" niche that had no competitors.
What a load of rubbish!
You can make more money on page 30 of Google's results in a high-demand niche than you can by "dominating" some piddly little untapped micro-niche.
It is true.
By selling or promoting what millions of people buy, that means that you are casting your "fishing net" into a lake that is absolutely TEEMING with fish!
Who cares if you are only collecting a fraction of the fish that your competition does - there is plenty to go around.
And if you target the "buyer profile" keywords, than the competition factor is far less of a barrier than you might think, anyway.
I have sites in ultra-competitive niches getting hundreds of visitors a day that are barely even visible in the SE's - except for a multitude of long-tail & product keywords.
And man, do they pull it down!
So forget what you have heard about 'niche domination'.
Instead, consider the reality of just how possible it is to simply ENTER a massive niche, harnessing the easy traffic due to the sheer demand that exists on the long-tail, the mid-tail, the "product-tail" the "misspelled, unique & crazy keywords"-tail and all the rest of it.
Go after the buyers in ultra-competitive, high-demand markets and just watch what happens when you start building backlinks.
3. SELL
I see so many sites and blogs that could make a KILLING if they would simply place their affiliate promotions more visibly.
But instead, they "hide" all their links at the bottom of their articles.
Or they just get lazy, and put up a banner somewhere - or otherwise "promote" from some dark corner of their site, as if they think that their visitors might get offended if they "over-promote".
What a sad loss for them.
I jam my promos right in my visitor's faces. Front and center.
The first thing they see when *ANY* of my site's pages load is a damn good reason to go and buy something that, in most cases, is what they're already looking for.
This way, I have seen even my "very low" traffic sites make several sales a week - a result of visitor targeting AND effective visitor funneling.
And the profits will explode as your traffic levels increase over time from organic listings.
But you can expect mediocre profits at best if you are afraid of SELLING.
4. JUST
You know, it used to take me MONTHS to roll out a simple 20-page site.
That is because I would over-think, over-plan, over-strategize and "perfect" things to DEATH.
I had have 52 autoresponders lined up, some crazy user-based viral marketing campaigns lined up, and God knows what else.
And in the end - those few alleged "masterpieces" ended up being my worst performers.
Ironically, one of my most profitable sites is absolutely the ugliest, most un-planned DISASTER ever. It sucks. I don't even show it to other marketers, more out of embarrassment than "niche protection".
But it is a classic SEO-friendly, HTML site with targeted title tags, H1 tags and unique content, it sticks the offer right in the visitor's faces, and it has more than 10,000 backlinks.
(It is not in the marketing niche, by the way - none of these types of sites are)
So stop planning things to death.
And no, you do not have to build a list in every niche, and you do not have to orchestrate some master-plan to conquer your niche in 15 days with the world's best marketing plan like your favorite Guru.
Just tap into the existing "buyer traffic" and make some easy commissions.
And then do it again and again.
Then - use those profits to start developing your own products, authority sites, etc. so that you can use this kind of "leech" strategy to fund the development of a business with a rock-solid foundation in a matter of a year or so.
All the while pulling down a full-time income, if you take it seriously enough.
And that's all there is to it.
Like I said - it ain't rocket science
In summary...
Enter into an actual, high-demand niche with millions of buyers.
Anti-adware, acne removal, weight-loss pills, and so on are a few examples of HUNDREDS of other niches that fit the bill.
Set up a simple site that reviews each major product, with maybe a few articles, etc. Put your affiliate promos in the top-fold of the page, FRONT AND CENTER.
Optimize your pages for SEO, targeting the "buyer keywords".
And then build as many backlinks as possible - Google "how to get backlinks" to find out more about that.
Work hard, and monitor your stats closely to see what happens when your site gets indexed and your rankings start to climb.
When the sales start to trickle in, reinvest all your profits to strengthen your rankings, increase backlinks, etc. until you have got some serious SE presence.
The traffic will be roaring in a few months - and so will the sales, if you are in a niche full of buyers.
Then - do it again, and again, and again, and again...
It could change your life.
And it is not rocket-science.
Let us start with the last word in the phrase.
1. BUY
You want one kind of visitor in this business - a buyer.
As nice as it might be to have a "high-traffic site" with some crazy traffic graphs in Google Analytics - at the end of the day, who really cares unless they made you money?
I do not know about you, but I am not in this business for the charity. I donate my own money as appropriate - but my websites sure better be profitable!
And so I target buyers.
People with credit card in hand, looking for the order form - NOT just "information".
In terms of building affiliate sites, this means that I focus on product-related keywords and keyphrases. People searching for products do so to research and "make sure" about a purchase decision, in most cases. And some are literally searching for the order form.
A small percentage do so for other "non-buying" reasons, but the majority are either on the verge of buying and in need of a little "push" - or they're simply looking for the place to insert their credit card number because of previous research.
Why it is not rocket science:
Just build a site that includes info-pages and/or reviews for the popular products in your target niche and make it VERY EASY for the visitor to get to the vendor's site...
...through your affiliate link, of course!
How hard is that?
2. LOTS OF PEOPLE
For the longest time, I truly believed that the only "chance" I had to make a good online income is if I could dominate some sort of un-tapped niche.
Finding a "gold mine" niche that had no competitors.
What a load of rubbish!
You can make more money on page 30 of Google's results in a high-demand niche than you can by "dominating" some piddly little untapped micro-niche.
It is true.
By selling or promoting what millions of people buy, that means that you are casting your "fishing net" into a lake that is absolutely TEEMING with fish!
Who cares if you are only collecting a fraction of the fish that your competition does - there is plenty to go around.
And if you target the "buyer profile" keywords, than the competition factor is far less of a barrier than you might think, anyway.
I have sites in ultra-competitive niches getting hundreds of visitors a day that are barely even visible in the SE's - except for a multitude of long-tail & product keywords.
And man, do they pull it down!
So forget what you have heard about 'niche domination'.
Instead, consider the reality of just how possible it is to simply ENTER a massive niche, harnessing the easy traffic due to the sheer demand that exists on the long-tail, the mid-tail, the "product-tail" the "misspelled, unique & crazy keywords"-tail and all the rest of it.
Go after the buyers in ultra-competitive, high-demand markets and just watch what happens when you start building backlinks.
3. SELL
I see so many sites and blogs that could make a KILLING if they would simply place their affiliate promotions more visibly.
But instead, they "hide" all their links at the bottom of their articles.
Or they just get lazy, and put up a banner somewhere - or otherwise "promote" from some dark corner of their site, as if they think that their visitors might get offended if they "over-promote".
What a sad loss for them.
I jam my promos right in my visitor's faces. Front and center.
The first thing they see when *ANY* of my site's pages load is a damn good reason to go and buy something that, in most cases, is what they're already looking for.
This way, I have seen even my "very low" traffic sites make several sales a week - a result of visitor targeting AND effective visitor funneling.
And the profits will explode as your traffic levels increase over time from organic listings.
But you can expect mediocre profits at best if you are afraid of SELLING.
4. JUST
You know, it used to take me MONTHS to roll out a simple 20-page site.
That is because I would over-think, over-plan, over-strategize and "perfect" things to DEATH.
I had have 52 autoresponders lined up, some crazy user-based viral marketing campaigns lined up, and God knows what else.
And in the end - those few alleged "masterpieces" ended up being my worst performers.
Ironically, one of my most profitable sites is absolutely the ugliest, most un-planned DISASTER ever. It sucks. I don't even show it to other marketers, more out of embarrassment than "niche protection".
But it is a classic SEO-friendly, HTML site with targeted title tags, H1 tags and unique content, it sticks the offer right in the visitor's faces, and it has more than 10,000 backlinks.
(It is not in the marketing niche, by the way - none of these types of sites are)
So stop planning things to death.
And no, you do not have to build a list in every niche, and you do not have to orchestrate some master-plan to conquer your niche in 15 days with the world's best marketing plan like your favorite Guru.
Just tap into the existing "buyer traffic" and make some easy commissions.
And then do it again and again.
Then - use those profits to start developing your own products, authority sites, etc. so that you can use this kind of "leech" strategy to fund the development of a business with a rock-solid foundation in a matter of a year or so.
All the while pulling down a full-time income, if you take it seriously enough.
And that's all there is to it.
Like I said - it ain't rocket science
In summary...
Enter into an actual, high-demand niche with millions of buyers.
Anti-adware, acne removal, weight-loss pills, and so on are a few examples of HUNDREDS of other niches that fit the bill.
Set up a simple site that reviews each major product, with maybe a few articles, etc. Put your affiliate promos in the top-fold of the page, FRONT AND CENTER.
Optimize your pages for SEO, targeting the "buyer keywords".
And then build as many backlinks as possible - Google "how to get backlinks" to find out more about that.
Work hard, and monitor your stats closely to see what happens when your site gets indexed and your rankings start to climb.
When the sales start to trickle in, reinvest all your profits to strengthen your rankings, increase backlinks, etc. until you have got some serious SE presence.
The traffic will be roaring in a few months - and so will the sales, if you are in a niche full of buyers.
Then - do it again, and again, and again, and again...
It could change your life.
And it is not rocket-science.
Affiliate Marketing Done Simply
There are no great secrets to affiliate marketing, just create a website for each product you are promoting. Let us remember that very few marketing opportunities exist that could make the earnings that are possible with affiliate marketing. It can be done just by simply creating a simple web page with the information people are looking for. Unlike applying for a sales position in the real world, on the Internet you get to choose what company you want to sell for.
Before you go creating a website you will need to have a product or service to sell won't you? However the tedious part that must be carried out: reading the terms and conditions, you fail to do this at your own peril. Misunderstandings among affiliates are common so don't be one of them as it will affect your earning potential. There are many companies that will only trade with certain countries so they will not pay affiliates if they live there.
Be wary of affiliate programs that pay less than fifty percent commission unless you can guarantee a high turnover. Some of the latest trends in affiliate marketing can be found on google.com/trends/hottrends which can highlight the latest areas for products to consider. You should always be wary of affiliate programs that require a registration or administration fee as they probably earn their income from the large number of people that sign up with them.
The majority of programs will use Paypal or Clickbank and both are trustworthy so to ensure you are covered, register with both systems as it is free. At a later stage, trying different companies to handle payments will be fine but your inexperience in affiliate marketing at this point could lead you to making mistakes that are unnecessary.
For ebooks and other sites that can help with your marketing affiliate products business just do a search online, you will be surprised just how much information is out there. It is quite usual for ebooks to contain url's that are themselves affiliate links. It is up to you if you click on any and buy something.
It is easy to spend a great deal of money when you start before you have made your first dollar if you are not careful; start by using whatever free resources you can at first. This is a way for a trust to be built up between the developer or writer and you as the consumer.
Some people forget that not everyone searches for things online and to increase exposure to your website you need to consider other forms of advertising to succeed at affiliate marketing. This type of marketing is about directing traffic to your affiliate website. Just about every affiliate marketer needs to know what advertising methods driving traffic to their site is working so they use tracking techniques and then drop the methods that are not working.
The biggest benefit to affiliate marketing is there is no restriction on how many companies you can work for. A great deal of information is out there but you are warned about some which will be out of date or misleading. For more information on starting, running, or expanding your e-business, go to http://www.profitlance.com/new/?hop=bzmax
Before you go creating a website you will need to have a product or service to sell won't you? However the tedious part that must be carried out: reading the terms and conditions, you fail to do this at your own peril. Misunderstandings among affiliates are common so don't be one of them as it will affect your earning potential. There are many companies that will only trade with certain countries so they will not pay affiliates if they live there.
Be wary of affiliate programs that pay less than fifty percent commission unless you can guarantee a high turnover. Some of the latest trends in affiliate marketing can be found on google.com/trends/hottrends which can highlight the latest areas for products to consider. You should always be wary of affiliate programs that require a registration or administration fee as they probably earn their income from the large number of people that sign up with them.
The majority of programs will use Paypal or Clickbank and both are trustworthy so to ensure you are covered, register with both systems as it is free. At a later stage, trying different companies to handle payments will be fine but your inexperience in affiliate marketing at this point could lead you to making mistakes that are unnecessary.
For ebooks and other sites that can help with your marketing affiliate products business just do a search online, you will be surprised just how much information is out there. It is quite usual for ebooks to contain url's that are themselves affiliate links. It is up to you if you click on any and buy something.
It is easy to spend a great deal of money when you start before you have made your first dollar if you are not careful; start by using whatever free resources you can at first. This is a way for a trust to be built up between the developer or writer and you as the consumer.
Some people forget that not everyone searches for things online and to increase exposure to your website you need to consider other forms of advertising to succeed at affiliate marketing. This type of marketing is about directing traffic to your affiliate website. Just about every affiliate marketer needs to know what advertising methods driving traffic to their site is working so they use tracking techniques and then drop the methods that are not working.
The biggest benefit to affiliate marketing is there is no restriction on how many companies you can work for. A great deal of information is out there but you are warned about some which will be out of date or misleading. For more information on starting, running, or expanding your e-business, go to http://www.profitlance.com/new/?hop=bzmax
Successful Affiliate Marketing - Do You Know What You Need?
Though it is said that a good product will market itself, it simply does not mean because you have a good product you just sit back and let it find its way. Initially it is up to you to bring the product to light and even if you decide to use affiliate marketing as a vehicle to distribute your product, you must position your product in such a way that the affiliates will find it to promote.
Marketing can be a daunting task at times we all know but in this age and time, there are many specialised tools on the internet which greatly helps us to minimise time spent working while on the other hand maximises our potential earnings.
So what kind of tools might you need to help you build your online business as product vendor/provider or as an affiliate looking at making profit from selling other peoples products? Some tools you will need are:
1. Website or Blog: Your website or your blog is your shop front and if it is shabby or not properly presented there is a high probability visitors will just click the bank button and continue there search. There are companies that will take care of designing, hosting and offering technical help at reasonable cost.
2. Seo Tools: It is not enough to have a site or a blog up and running without looking at ways you can direct traffic to your site or blog. The Seo Elite software is a very good tool and affordable that can help you build up your site traffic with step by step guidelines.
3. Incentives: Most affiliates make the mistake of promoting everything and anything, which is not a wise idea as you might find yourself promoting a product that will cost you more money to promote than you actually make from it. Make sure the product you choose to promote aside been a good product also has a reasonable payout (personally any product that pays below $20 I do not bother promoting).
Affiliate marketing can be a very lucrative work at home opportunity, but you must be sure to take time to learn more about affiliate marketing programs and the tools that successful affiliate employ to help them reduce man hours while maximising earnings.
For more detailed information go to: http://www.profitlance.com/new/?hop=bzmax
Marketing can be a daunting task at times we all know but in this age and time, there are many specialised tools on the internet which greatly helps us to minimise time spent working while on the other hand maximises our potential earnings.
So what kind of tools might you need to help you build your online business as product vendor/provider or as an affiliate looking at making profit from selling other peoples products? Some tools you will need are:
1. Website or Blog: Your website or your blog is your shop front and if it is shabby or not properly presented there is a high probability visitors will just click the bank button and continue there search. There are companies that will take care of designing, hosting and offering technical help at reasonable cost.
2. Seo Tools: It is not enough to have a site or a blog up and running without looking at ways you can direct traffic to your site or blog. The Seo Elite software is a very good tool and affordable that can help you build up your site traffic with step by step guidelines.
3. Incentives: Most affiliates make the mistake of promoting everything and anything, which is not a wise idea as you might find yourself promoting a product that will cost you more money to promote than you actually make from it. Make sure the product you choose to promote aside been a good product also has a reasonable payout (personally any product that pays below $20 I do not bother promoting).
Affiliate marketing can be a very lucrative work at home opportunity, but you must be sure to take time to learn more about affiliate marketing programs and the tools that successful affiliate employ to help them reduce man hours while maximising earnings.
For more detailed information go to: http://www.profitlance.com/new/?hop=bzmax
Affiliate Marketing Support - Why You Are Not Having The Success You Want
Not everybody is as successful in affiliate marketing as he could be.
In fact there are only 20% of marketers who really make it in this business. The other 80% are struggling to survive. If you ask around, will discover that people divide into two clear category:
-the ones who will say that affiliate marketing is easy as a snip of the finger. Just buy their latest secret method or product and money will start flowing. You surely know what i'm talking about.
-the ones who are sure that only marketing gurus or copyright killers can be successful on internet. Usually those are people who never had an affiliate business or they failed after the first try and gave up.
I want to introduce you a third opinion:
Almost everybody can succeed with the right affiliate marketing support!
And before you try to argue on that, i will explain myself.
Why you are not having the success you want in your internet business? After all affiliate marketing business is more than profitable; in 2007 the affiliate industry worldwide earned more than $90 billion. The yearly growth of internet buyers is 20%, no matter how many people will join internet marketing, there is still plenty of room. So why can't you bring in more profits?
One reason that i can think of is maybe you don't use the most successful methods. You try your best, i'm sure, but it still can get better. There are so many areas to cover, so many details, so many changes that is hard to keep up. You stick with the book,but maybe the book is out of date or incomplete.
In this case affiliate marketing support can and will help improving things. Don't tell me you didn't think of that. I hear all the time stories about how changing one small detail boosted a business up to the sky. About people who needed just a tweak in their marketing strategies to finally get that profits to the bank.
When i just started out in internet marketing i was lost in the woods. Knew all the fundamentals, but overwhelmed and confused and always one step behind the latest methods and tools.I really wanted to make money online. And i would never make it without having that support. Looking back now, joining my internet marketing community was the smartest thing i've done so far.
If this is not your case, then maybe you don't trust yourself too much. You try here and there, join another affiliate program, plan some more campaign but you don't really believe in it. You don't think you are good enough. The marketing professionals are doing such a better job than you.
I know that feeling.
Everyone goes through that sometimes. I also had hard times believing in myself.
But let me tell you this:
No one was born an affiliate marketer, or a dancer, or a writer. They worked hard and learned and failed until they got where they are. But they didn't make it alone. They got help. They got inspired and motivated to get up and try again.
And this is an essential factor for success.
I personally need that affiliate marketing support for my self confidence.
I need to know how others struggle just like me. To hear them excited about successes or frustrated about the obstacles. To know that they made it. Then i know i can make it too.
If i wouldn't join such a community i would gave up long ago.
You should do it too. You are good enough, trust me.
Don't let anyone say something else.
So here we go.
The only two reasons possible for not making it yet online.
And as I see it the solution is just around the corner. Affiliate marketing is not becoming rich overnight. It takes some work and effort from your side. But is definitely the easy way of making money online. Making lots of money.
You know you don't have to fight alone.
There is no reason to do that.
Sometimes the difference between $500 a month and $500 a day in your marketing business is that affiliate marketing support.
Then go get it!
And achieve that success you want! If you want more details about how to do that go to: http://www.profitlance.com/new/?hop=bzmax
In fact there are only 20% of marketers who really make it in this business. The other 80% are struggling to survive. If you ask around, will discover that people divide into two clear category:
-the ones who will say that affiliate marketing is easy as a snip of the finger. Just buy their latest secret method or product and money will start flowing. You surely know what i'm talking about.
-the ones who are sure that only marketing gurus or copyright killers can be successful on internet. Usually those are people who never had an affiliate business or they failed after the first try and gave up.
I want to introduce you a third opinion:
Almost everybody can succeed with the right affiliate marketing support!
And before you try to argue on that, i will explain myself.
Why you are not having the success you want in your internet business? After all affiliate marketing business is more than profitable; in 2007 the affiliate industry worldwide earned more than $90 billion. The yearly growth of internet buyers is 20%, no matter how many people will join internet marketing, there is still plenty of room. So why can't you bring in more profits?
One reason that i can think of is maybe you don't use the most successful methods. You try your best, i'm sure, but it still can get better. There are so many areas to cover, so many details, so many changes that is hard to keep up. You stick with the book,but maybe the book is out of date or incomplete.
In this case affiliate marketing support can and will help improving things. Don't tell me you didn't think of that. I hear all the time stories about how changing one small detail boosted a business up to the sky. About people who needed just a tweak in their marketing strategies to finally get that profits to the bank.
When i just started out in internet marketing i was lost in the woods. Knew all the fundamentals, but overwhelmed and confused and always one step behind the latest methods and tools.I really wanted to make money online. And i would never make it without having that support. Looking back now, joining my internet marketing community was the smartest thing i've done so far.
If this is not your case, then maybe you don't trust yourself too much. You try here and there, join another affiliate program, plan some more campaign but you don't really believe in it. You don't think you are good enough. The marketing professionals are doing such a better job than you.
I know that feeling.
Everyone goes through that sometimes. I also had hard times believing in myself.
But let me tell you this:
No one was born an affiliate marketer, or a dancer, or a writer. They worked hard and learned and failed until they got where they are. But they didn't make it alone. They got help. They got inspired and motivated to get up and try again.
And this is an essential factor for success.
I personally need that affiliate marketing support for my self confidence.
I need to know how others struggle just like me. To hear them excited about successes or frustrated about the obstacles. To know that they made it. Then i know i can make it too.
If i wouldn't join such a community i would gave up long ago.
You should do it too. You are good enough, trust me.
Don't let anyone say something else.
So here we go.
The only two reasons possible for not making it yet online.
And as I see it the solution is just around the corner. Affiliate marketing is not becoming rich overnight. It takes some work and effort from your side. But is definitely the easy way of making money online. Making lots of money.
You know you don't have to fight alone.
There is no reason to do that.
Sometimes the difference between $500 a month and $500 a day in your marketing business is that affiliate marketing support.
Then go get it!
And achieve that success you want! If you want more details about how to do that go to: http://www.profitlance.com/new/?hop=bzmax
Domain Names - Keyword or Brand?
You have the idea of your site clear in your head. The only thing left is to choose your domain name. Should you chose a keyword rich domain name or go for a brand type of domain name? Let's take a closer look on the two types of domain names, keyword and brand domains, in this article.
A common assumption is, that a keyword rich domain name will give you a higher ranking in the search engines, that's wrong. A keyword rich domain name does not guarantee you a high ranking in the search engines, alone. There are more factors that the search engines use to determine your rank, than just your domain name. Now, don't get me wrong, I didn't say that a keyword domain is useless. I said that there, might be other factors, that would outrank a keyword rich domain name, like the number of backlinks, that points to your domain.
I think that this rule is, simple and easy to follow, when it comes to select your domain name. If you build a site that your surfers will visit just a few times, to buy an e-book for example, then you should go for a keyword rich domain name. If your goal is to build a site that you hope will get returning visitors, a keyword rich domain, is not your best shoot.
If you are building a website, that you will have returning visitors, you should consider a brand domain name. A brand domain name is, easy to remember and type in, also it will stick inside your head very easily. Brand names are domains like, Yahoo, Google, YouTube, Ask, etc. Such domain names will, over time, start living their own life. It's much easier for people to remember a brand domain name, and share them with others at work, college or the subway. It's much easier to remember Google, than it is to remember MyBestSearchSiteOnline dot com, isn't?
So if you want your surfers coming back to your new website, help them out by giving them a short, easy to remember domain name. Also, by selecting a brand domain name, you might, get a domain name that will, eventually, build credibility around it and start to market itself.
What about hyphened domain names, then? Well, again, it all depends on what site you are planning. If you build a site to sell your e-book, service or gadget, then go with a keyword rich domain name, hyphened or not, doesn't matter. However, if you are building a site for returning visitors, then go for a brand domain name.
Here are some tips on how to come up with those brand domain names, which can be hard to come up with. Play with words, or better, let your friends play with words. You can give them two or more words and let them create new words, based out of them. For example, Google and solution, can give you hoolution, after a while, you will have plenty of words that can be used for your new, brand domain name. Just give it time and don't give up. Learn more about designing, building and how to generate traffic, to your website, at: http://www.profitlance.com/new/?hop=bzmax
A common assumption is, that a keyword rich domain name will give you a higher ranking in the search engines, that's wrong. A keyword rich domain name does not guarantee you a high ranking in the search engines, alone. There are more factors that the search engines use to determine your rank, than just your domain name. Now, don't get me wrong, I didn't say that a keyword domain is useless. I said that there, might be other factors, that would outrank a keyword rich domain name, like the number of backlinks, that points to your domain.
I think that this rule is, simple and easy to follow, when it comes to select your domain name. If you build a site that your surfers will visit just a few times, to buy an e-book for example, then you should go for a keyword rich domain name. If your goal is to build a site that you hope will get returning visitors, a keyword rich domain, is not your best shoot.
If you are building a website, that you will have returning visitors, you should consider a brand domain name. A brand domain name is, easy to remember and type in, also it will stick inside your head very easily. Brand names are domains like, Yahoo, Google, YouTube, Ask, etc. Such domain names will, over time, start living their own life. It's much easier for people to remember a brand domain name, and share them with others at work, college or the subway. It's much easier to remember Google, than it is to remember MyBestSearchSiteOnline dot com, isn't?
So if you want your surfers coming back to your new website, help them out by giving them a short, easy to remember domain name. Also, by selecting a brand domain name, you might, get a domain name that will, eventually, build credibility around it and start to market itself.
What about hyphened domain names, then? Well, again, it all depends on what site you are planning. If you build a site to sell your e-book, service or gadget, then go with a keyword rich domain name, hyphened or not, doesn't matter. However, if you are building a site for returning visitors, then go for a brand domain name.
Here are some tips on how to come up with those brand domain names, which can be hard to come up with. Play with words, or better, let your friends play with words. You can give them two or more words and let them create new words, based out of them. For example, Google and solution, can give you hoolution, after a while, you will have plenty of words that can be used for your new, brand domain name. Just give it time and don't give up. Learn more about designing, building and how to generate traffic, to your website, at: http://www.profitlance.com/new/?hop=bzmax
Your Internet Home Business Domain Name Is Critical
There I was. Waiting in the lobby to meet my next client. Ahhh, the good life. While sipping a nice clean swallow from my filtered water bottle I catch the conversation across the way. What do you know; they too make a living on the Internet.
Then suddenly, as if my chair was ripped from underneath the perch on where I sat sending me hurdling to the floor; I heard it.
"We'd recommend you name your new website William.com."
Now unless they were talking to Bill Gates or Billy Graham, and I was quite sure neither of those would be the case; I couldn't believe my ears. Their client was a home business time management consultant. No one would look for his website through Google or any other search engine using his first name. I wanted to get up and scream, STOP! But I think I was half stunned from the pure ignorance being displayed by people in my field.
See, when choosing a domain name you want to use your strongest keyword within that domain name for the best results. True you can build name recognition over time in some cases like Google.com and Yahoo.com but I'm pretty sure that William the home business time management consultant was not interested in what it would take to make this happen for his first name.
Therefore, it is a much better approach to use tools like SEO Elite and HitTail to determine what your strongest keyword would be for your project and make that your keyword. At the very least they could have suggested TimeManagementConsultant.com.
Ahhhh, you say. But wait! That specific domain name is already taken by someone else somewhere else.
Fine. Make it HomeBusinessTimeManagementConsultant.com or TimeManagementConsultant4U.com. The point is that there are options to fit your keyword into your domain name. Which do you think people will search on for a time management consultant? William.com or TimeManagementConsultant4U.com? You get the point I am sure.
Also, when choosing a domain name I've made it a general rule to stay away from anything that does not end in ".com". I simply have not seen a good enough argument for choosing "dot anything else" at this point. However, if I change my mind it is not difficult to purchase the "dot whatever" and redirect it to my ".com" website. I'm sure this point will probably change in time, but for now that's what I'm sticking with and hence my recommendation.
In closing, next time someone tells you to use your name as your domain name, first laugh loudly in their face and then get up and walk away. Making such a suggestion shows their obvious ignorance of what they are doing. And having a web master that is clueless about their job is certainly not going to bode well for your own success on the Internet.
Then suddenly, as if my chair was ripped from underneath the perch on where I sat sending me hurdling to the floor; I heard it.
"We'd recommend you name your new website William.com."
Now unless they were talking to Bill Gates or Billy Graham, and I was quite sure neither of those would be the case; I couldn't believe my ears. Their client was a home business time management consultant. No one would look for his website through Google or any other search engine using his first name. I wanted to get up and scream, STOP! But I think I was half stunned from the pure ignorance being displayed by people in my field.
See, when choosing a domain name you want to use your strongest keyword within that domain name for the best results. True you can build name recognition over time in some cases like Google.com and Yahoo.com but I'm pretty sure that William the home business time management consultant was not interested in what it would take to make this happen for his first name.
Therefore, it is a much better approach to use tools like SEO Elite and HitTail to determine what your strongest keyword would be for your project and make that your keyword. At the very least they could have suggested TimeManagementConsultant.com.
Ahhhh, you say. But wait! That specific domain name is already taken by someone else somewhere else.
Fine. Make it HomeBusinessTimeManagementConsultant.com or TimeManagementConsultant4U.com. The point is that there are options to fit your keyword into your domain name. Which do you think people will search on for a time management consultant? William.com or TimeManagementConsultant4U.com? You get the point I am sure.
Also, when choosing a domain name I've made it a general rule to stay away from anything that does not end in ".com". I simply have not seen a good enough argument for choosing "dot anything else" at this point. However, if I change my mind it is not difficult to purchase the "dot whatever" and redirect it to my ".com" website. I'm sure this point will probably change in time, but for now that's what I'm sticking with and hence my recommendation.
In closing, next time someone tells you to use your name as your domain name, first laugh loudly in their face and then get up and walk away. Making such a suggestion shows their obvious ignorance of what they are doing. And having a web master that is clueless about their job is certainly not going to bode well for your own success on the Internet.
How to Make a Profit On Domain Names
It is said that the land rush today is a virtual one, taking place online through the purchase of domain names. There are certainly fortunes to be made in domain names, as previous sales of single names have commanded six and seven figure price tags while whole portfolios have sold for tens of millions of dollars. But that is the exception to the rule, and most portfolios are valued at much, much less. Some portfolios, or single domains won't sell at all, so where is the value in that? In this article, we will look at some of the different methods professional domainers use to build a quality portfolio of valuable domain names and how they make a profit.
The first thing to consider is why you want to make money with domain names and what you hope to obtain from them. Are you hoping to purchase low and resell the domains for a profit? Or is it an investment with a long term strategy of website development and growth? There are many different paths to take when participating in the domain after market, and understanding where you want to go is the first step towards getting there. Some paths are riskier than others, so evaluating your options ahead of time will help you become better prepared for the challenges to come. Not everyone can make money with domain names, but the persistent and motivated often do. Once you have a clear vision of what you want, it becomes much easier to make choices that will move you in that direction.
The most obvious way to make money with domain names is to buy low and sell high. This is one of the most common methods used on the stock market and can be very profitable in many domain situations as well. All domain names start out at the registration fee, which can be as low as six or seven dollars per year for .com, .net, and .org domains. If you happen to register a domain that others perceive has value, the difference in the registration fee and this perceived (and/or actual) value can be a nice profit for the domain owner. Domainers who make money using this method often follow trends in the domain marketplace, registering keywords of new Top Level Domains (TLDs), registering and reselling desirable domain patterns (three letter domains, three character domains, etc), or just following what's hot or picking up established domains as they expire (which is a method in and of itself). The general idea here remains to buy a domain at a bargain and find a buyer who also sees value in the domain and is willing to pay a premium for it.
The upside to reselling domain names is that you can generate a decent amount of profits in a relatively short amount of time. The downside is that it may not always go as planned, and you will not always find a buyer for your domains right away. It can be tough to find buyers for specific names and if domains aren't reasonable priced, a buyer may never appear. Another downside is that you only make money off your own physical effort. You have to take the time to find domains to purchase, follow through with the purchase, and then find a buyer and complete the sale. This process can take quite a bit of time and involves a degree of risk. You may also find yourself holding onto domain names a lot longer than initially thought and end up playing the waiting game. With most domains, there are much better ways to produce profits, but don't discount this method for its potential ability to generate income in a short amount of time with the right domains.
Paid parking is another method for making a profit on domain names. This works for some names, mostly generic domains, typos, or names that receive steady traffic. There are many different parking programs available, but the basic idea is to sign up with a paid parking service and then send your domain traffic to their servers. Their servers will then display ads and search boxes on template generated websites, and you earn a portion of the revenue if anyone clicks on a link or purchases an advertiser's product. This system works when the domain earns more revenue per year than the cost of the yearly renewal fees. For instance, if you pay $12 per year for registration fees, the domain would need to earn slightly more than $1 per month to be a worthwhile option. Any less and it costs more to maintain the domain than the amount of money the domain produces. The plus side to this method is that once the domain parking is setup, you don't have to do anything to earn income as long as your domain receives traffic.
Many domainers will park new domains they purchase in order to gauge traffic and see if the domains will be profitable on a paid parking service. If a domain shows the potential to make revenue, they will most likely keep it for the passive income. Otherwise, they will look at other options for making a profit on the domain.
You may also consider developing a website around a domain name. The site could sell products, subscriptions, offer content and display advertisements, or offer varying combinations of techniques to generate revenue. The idea is to build up a profitable website and in essence, create a resellable asset that produces income. Having an established website (profitable or not) can greatly increase the value of a domain as well as make it appeal to more buyers. With this method, you can build up websites specifically to resell, or hold onto them for a continual income stream.
As competition in the domain marketplace becomes increasingly fierce, more domainers are becoming webmasters in an effort to maximize their profits and revenue while dramatically increasing the value of their portfolios.
Hopefully by now you have an idea of some of the main methods used to make money with domains. There are countless other methods for turning a profit, and numerous variations of the methods described in this article, but having a base of knowledge provides an excellent starting point. The key is to know what you want beforehand, learn as much as you can about specific methods that will help get you where you want to go, and then keep at it until you succeed. Many people fail because they give up, or don't do the research beforehand and end up losing money in bad deals. Making money with domain names isn't a get rich quick scheme, but with enough effort, motivation, and patience, anyone can succeed.
The first thing to consider is why you want to make money with domain names and what you hope to obtain from them. Are you hoping to purchase low and resell the domains for a profit? Or is it an investment with a long term strategy of website development and growth? There are many different paths to take when participating in the domain after market, and understanding where you want to go is the first step towards getting there. Some paths are riskier than others, so evaluating your options ahead of time will help you become better prepared for the challenges to come. Not everyone can make money with domain names, but the persistent and motivated often do. Once you have a clear vision of what you want, it becomes much easier to make choices that will move you in that direction.
The most obvious way to make money with domain names is to buy low and sell high. This is one of the most common methods used on the stock market and can be very profitable in many domain situations as well. All domain names start out at the registration fee, which can be as low as six or seven dollars per year for .com, .net, and .org domains. If you happen to register a domain that others perceive has value, the difference in the registration fee and this perceived (and/or actual) value can be a nice profit for the domain owner. Domainers who make money using this method often follow trends in the domain marketplace, registering keywords of new Top Level Domains (TLDs), registering and reselling desirable domain patterns (three letter domains, three character domains, etc), or just following what's hot or picking up established domains as they expire (which is a method in and of itself). The general idea here remains to buy a domain at a bargain and find a buyer who also sees value in the domain and is willing to pay a premium for it.
The upside to reselling domain names is that you can generate a decent amount of profits in a relatively short amount of time. The downside is that it may not always go as planned, and you will not always find a buyer for your domains right away. It can be tough to find buyers for specific names and if domains aren't reasonable priced, a buyer may never appear. Another downside is that you only make money off your own physical effort. You have to take the time to find domains to purchase, follow through with the purchase, and then find a buyer and complete the sale. This process can take quite a bit of time and involves a degree of risk. You may also find yourself holding onto domain names a lot longer than initially thought and end up playing the waiting game. With most domains, there are much better ways to produce profits, but don't discount this method for its potential ability to generate income in a short amount of time with the right domains.
Paid parking is another method for making a profit on domain names. This works for some names, mostly generic domains, typos, or names that receive steady traffic. There are many different parking programs available, but the basic idea is to sign up with a paid parking service and then send your domain traffic to their servers. Their servers will then display ads and search boxes on template generated websites, and you earn a portion of the revenue if anyone clicks on a link or purchases an advertiser's product. This system works when the domain earns more revenue per year than the cost of the yearly renewal fees. For instance, if you pay $12 per year for registration fees, the domain would need to earn slightly more than $1 per month to be a worthwhile option. Any less and it costs more to maintain the domain than the amount of money the domain produces. The plus side to this method is that once the domain parking is setup, you don't have to do anything to earn income as long as your domain receives traffic.
Many domainers will park new domains they purchase in order to gauge traffic and see if the domains will be profitable on a paid parking service. If a domain shows the potential to make revenue, they will most likely keep it for the passive income. Otherwise, they will look at other options for making a profit on the domain.
You may also consider developing a website around a domain name. The site could sell products, subscriptions, offer content and display advertisements, or offer varying combinations of techniques to generate revenue. The idea is to build up a profitable website and in essence, create a resellable asset that produces income. Having an established website (profitable or not) can greatly increase the value of a domain as well as make it appeal to more buyers. With this method, you can build up websites specifically to resell, or hold onto them for a continual income stream.
As competition in the domain marketplace becomes increasingly fierce, more domainers are becoming webmasters in an effort to maximize their profits and revenue while dramatically increasing the value of their portfolios.
Hopefully by now you have an idea of some of the main methods used to make money with domains. There are countless other methods for turning a profit, and numerous variations of the methods described in this article, but having a base of knowledge provides an excellent starting point. The key is to know what you want beforehand, learn as much as you can about specific methods that will help get you where you want to go, and then keep at it until you succeed. Many people fail because they give up, or don't do the research beforehand and end up losing money in bad deals. Making money with domain names isn't a get rich quick scheme, but with enough effort, motivation, and patience, anyone can succeed.
How to Choose a Domain Name
Domain name investing has been all over the news lately. Names that were purchased ten years ago for $30 are now selling for millions. People are now catching on as to just how profitable investing in domain names can be. Real estate is always a safe investment, but with the market taking a downturn, people are looking into other options for investment.
There are millions of domain names available for purchase, so how do you know which one to choose?
To start, don't rush it. Choosing the right name is critical because you want to buy a name that is valuable to others and that will give you more room for negotiation.
The first thing you should consider if you actually do have a website and intend to use the domain name, is that you domain name be the name of your website. That sounds pretty obvious, but there are actually websites that do not match the name. The site should match your domain name so that people can find it easily. If someone else owns your domain name, and you are trying to get more business, the person surfing the internet for that name will go directly to your competitor and you will have lost a sale.
If you can't get the domain name you want, you may want to think about changing the name of your business. If you're already and established entity and think owning the name will further improve your business, you may have to spend big bucks to obtain ownership of that domain name. Find out who the owner of the name is and see what they are asking for it, it's worth a try if anything. They may not be willing to sell it at all and you'll have to look at other options for website names. If you own a business that is just starting out, changing the name of your company might not be a bad idea in order to match it with a website. The internet is too valuable a tool for marking and selling products and services to be missed out on.
Generally, the shorter the domain name, the better. They can be up to 67 characters long, but the person surfing the internet is likely to type in the shortest, most generic (unless it's a brand name) term. Shorter names are also easier to remember than long names or phrases. Short names that are abbreviated and/or with numbers in them are more difficult for people to remember. For example TES942 may be harder to remember than Teachers-Educating-Students.com. Even though TES942 is shorter, Teachers-educating-students is much easier to remember.
It is also better to pick domain names that have key words in them. Search engines are more likely to pick them up if the keywords are in the .com name.
Be careful when choosing hyphenated names. When people are surfing, they generally don't like to take the time to integrate hyphens in their surf. They might end up at your competitions website. When others are talking about your site, they are probably going to forget to tell them there is a hyphen in it, also leading them to your competitions site. The good news about hyphens is that search engines will be able to pick up on your name with the keywords, leading more people to your site. If the non-hyphenated domain name you want is taken, it might be a good idea to just go ahead and use the hyphenated version.
There are millions of domain names available for purchase, so how do you know which one to choose?
To start, don't rush it. Choosing the right name is critical because you want to buy a name that is valuable to others and that will give you more room for negotiation.
The first thing you should consider if you actually do have a website and intend to use the domain name, is that you domain name be the name of your website. That sounds pretty obvious, but there are actually websites that do not match the name. The site should match your domain name so that people can find it easily. If someone else owns your domain name, and you are trying to get more business, the person surfing the internet for that name will go directly to your competitor and you will have lost a sale.
If you can't get the domain name you want, you may want to think about changing the name of your business. If you're already and established entity and think owning the name will further improve your business, you may have to spend big bucks to obtain ownership of that domain name. Find out who the owner of the name is and see what they are asking for it, it's worth a try if anything. They may not be willing to sell it at all and you'll have to look at other options for website names. If you own a business that is just starting out, changing the name of your company might not be a bad idea in order to match it with a website. The internet is too valuable a tool for marking and selling products and services to be missed out on.
Generally, the shorter the domain name, the better. They can be up to 67 characters long, but the person surfing the internet is likely to type in the shortest, most generic (unless it's a brand name) term. Shorter names are also easier to remember than long names or phrases. Short names that are abbreviated and/or with numbers in them are more difficult for people to remember. For example TES942 may be harder to remember than Teachers-Educating-Students.com. Even though TES942 is shorter, Teachers-educating-students is much easier to remember.
It is also better to pick domain names that have key words in them. Search engines are more likely to pick them up if the keywords are in the .com name.
Be careful when choosing hyphenated names. When people are surfing, they generally don't like to take the time to integrate hyphens in their surf. They might end up at your competitions website. When others are talking about your site, they are probably going to forget to tell them there is a hyphen in it, also leading them to your competitions site. The good news about hyphens is that search engines will be able to pick up on your name with the keywords, leading more people to your site. If the non-hyphenated domain name you want is taken, it might be a good idea to just go ahead and use the hyphenated version.
Is Your Domain Registrar Using Tactics That Will Get You Banned By Google?
It has been reported that a large, well known, Domain Name Registrar is using tactics to find wildcard subdomains for any domain that is using their DNS service, to find any subdomains that do not already have an explicit DNS entry.
These "unclaimed" subdomains appear to be resolving to a page on the Domain Registrars sites with text links that include "Poker Tournaments" and "Texas Holdem Games."
Why should you care? There are a couple of reasons, expertly outlined in the above article. These include:
The impression given that your site has shifted its focus to an industry associated with SPAM.
That NetSol is profiting from your Domain Name - if you haven't set up the links, then they must have and you can bet they haven't done it for free!
Most concerningly, This is exactly the kind of thing that can get you banned from Google.
It's an interesting point, many registrars "park" new domains on their name servers, and display the parked page with PPC advertising on it. They get the revenue for it, not the domain owner. Whilst one could object to that, it appears to be an accepted practice. Admittedly, there are costs associated with parking a domain until the owner is ready to use it, so it could be reasonable that the registrars do this. It is in the domain owners interest to act quickly and send their domain active ASAP.
So how to avoid it? When you register a domain, make sure you're domain name is using your hosting providers Name Services, not your registrars. With a bit of savvy thinking, you could set up a parking page for yourself and recouped PPC advertising until your ready to use that domain. To get a complete course on how to successfully profit with domain names and much, more go to: http://www.profitlance.com/new/?hop=bzmax
These "unclaimed" subdomains appear to be resolving to a page on the Domain Registrars sites with text links that include "Poker Tournaments" and "Texas Holdem Games."
Why should you care? There are a couple of reasons, expertly outlined in the above article. These include:
The impression given that your site has shifted its focus to an industry associated with SPAM.
That NetSol is profiting from your Domain Name - if you haven't set up the links, then they must have and you can bet they haven't done it for free!
Most concerningly, This is exactly the kind of thing that can get you banned from Google.
It's an interesting point, many registrars "park" new domains on their name servers, and display the parked page with PPC advertising on it. They get the revenue for it, not the domain owner. Whilst one could object to that, it appears to be an accepted practice. Admittedly, there are costs associated with parking a domain until the owner is ready to use it, so it could be reasonable that the registrars do this. It is in the domain owners interest to act quickly and send their domain active ASAP.
So how to avoid it? When you register a domain, make sure you're domain name is using your hosting providers Name Services, not your registrars. With a bit of savvy thinking, you could set up a parking page for yourself and recouped PPC advertising until your ready to use that domain. To get a complete course on how to successfully profit with domain names and much, more go to: http://www.profitlance.com/new/?hop=bzmax
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
